The Honey Badger - Fearsome or Sweet?

The honey badger is without a doubt one of the most fearless animals on the planet. In of their small size, the honey badger will fearlessly attack if cornered. In some cases, the honey badger will even attack a lion. Why is this little badger so fearless and successful in their exploits?

To understand the honey badger's fearless nature, you must look first to their existence. From a baby honey badger, they are at risk of being killed and eaten by larger and stronger animals. Lions, leopards and hyenas are all natural enemies of the honey badger. The young honey badger is at risk from virtually any carnivore, including their own species. Once they are full grown, the honey badger is still facing many dangers.

Adult honey badgers are a nomadic bunch, with no real home. They are constantly on the move, resting only at the occasional abandoned shelters. Unlike most badgers, they do not build dens. This leaves the honey badger out in the open most of the time, and in danger from predators. As protection, the honey badger has been forced to become highly aggressive and fearless.

Another reason for their fearless nature is food. The honey badger will eat fruits, insects, lizards, snakes and even the occasional carrion. Their preferred food source is honey, however. They will follow the honey guide birds to the trees that contain nests, and the honey badger will then climb the tree and knock the nest to the ground. Once on the ground, the honey badger will rip it to shreds.

While this all sounds great, the honey badger can be at great risk of bee stings. They do build up a sort of immunity against them, but on occasion they will even die from the stings. This largely depends on age and the number of stings they receive. Younger honey badgers are more at risk because they have not built up their immunity to the stings.

The same holds true to a certain extent with the venomous snakes of their region. Africa and Asia are homes to many different venomous species of snakes, and the honey badger loves eating them all when they can do so. This inevitably leads to snake bites and the honey badger is more immune than most. They are in great danger, but often come out on the winning side of a snake/badger confrontation.

One of the most incredible tales of honey badgers being fearless is that of confrontations with lions. It is a fact that lions make meals of honey badgers but the honey badger sometimes is able to scare away these supreme predators. Honey badgers have been rumored to actually chase a lion off of a kill, but I could find no verifiable source proving it.

When the honey badger feels threatened, they will emit a horrible smelling odor from their anus and shriek loudly. They have a fairly impressive set of teeth and can certainly be intimidating. The honey badger has been known to attack people, though this is rare. In fact, it is rare that people even see this secretive creature.

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Honey Badgers